Over the past few years we have been honoured to host at our conferences a number of excellent speakers who have addressed issues related to equality, diversity, and inclusion.  We have gathered a selection of these together to share more widely with the community.

America’s Scrapbook – Lae’l Hughes-Watkins, University of Maryland

This DCDC19 keynote presentation explored the systemic failures of the archival/heritage sectors in representing the stories of, and engaging with persons from minority and marginalised communities.

Are libraries neutral spaces – or places for ‘The Perfect Cultural Storm’ – Gwenda Thomas, University of Melbourne

This paper reflects on how the covering of an artwork in a South African university library during the social activism campaigns compromised the principles of artistic freedom. Over a period of four years, circumstances precipitated into a ‘Perfect Storm’ that pitched the principle of ‘library as neutral space’ into crisis.

Who drives the conversation? – Nathan Sentance

This DCDC18 presentation discussed blogging as resistance, and as a method to discuss the role of memory institutions in the destruction, exclusion and misremembering of First Nations culture and history

BME flight from UK higher education: inclusion and equity – Kalwant Bhopal, University of Birmingham

This presentation discusses the structural and societal disadvantages that have contributed to the continuing underrepresentation of BAME academics and students in higher education.

Coming in from the Cold: Narrowing the gap between community engagement and collection development – Jennie Vickers and Hannah Niblett, Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre

This presentation from DCDC17 explored how quality control, project planning, ethics and meaningful collections access all pose challenges to develop a collection that accurately represents the communities we serve.

Testifying to the Truth Project: Rethinking Access to Holocaust Testimony – Toby Simpson and Jessica Green, The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust & Genocide

The work of Holocaust survivors has played an important educational role across communities in the UK, but in-person visits are becoming increasingly impossible. To keep their voices alive and help more people around the world bear witness, the Library is working to translate, digitise, and make freely accessible online their rare collections of early Holocaust testimony.

Speak Up and Speaking Out About LGBTQ+ Lives in Archives – Tom Furber, London Metropolitan Archives

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer+ (LGBTQ+) people have always been part of the fabric of London yet their histories have been marginalised. This presentation will discuss the development, delivery and achievements of the Speak Out London Diversity City project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund’s (HLF) Our Heritage funding stream.

OCLC Research survey on equity, diversity & inclusion – Merrilee Proffitt, OCLC

In 2017, OCLC surveyed current Research Library Partners, with the intention of obtaining a snapshot of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) efforts within the Partnership that could inform specific follow-up activities that could provide assistance and better inform practice. This presentation shares thesurvey results which show where the global network of OCLC RLP institutions are investing and what they are finding most challenging and also discuss possible areas for collaborative investment.

Material Culture And Established Narratives – Joanne Fitton & Vanessa Cardui

The Brotherton Library and Leeds GATE embarked on projects to connect Gypsy and Traveller communities with heritage collections. The collaboration aims to provide a better understanding of the needs of the community and scholars, and shape new narratives for the collections.

Access to archives: out of the box – Tamsin Bookey, Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives

This presentation from DCDC14 explored the deconstruction and re-building of what constitutes access to archives – has relevance to all archive services, and should be of particular interest for those wishing to dismantle barriers to collections and enrich the ways in which the public can understand and interpret them